Newtown Education Foundation invites participation

Published 1:00 am, Friday, March 20, 2009

NEWTOWN -- With the Board of Education facing a $1 million cut from its already-trimmed 2009-10 budget, it seems like the present is the perfect time to create an education foundation.

Luckily for Newtown, an education foundation is already in the works.
Debbie Leidlein
, a local parent and Fairfield teacher, has organized a steering committee and recently held an information session for interested people.
Danbury, Brookfield and Bethel are among 80 towns in Connecticut with education foundations -- nonprofit organizations committed to improving local education.
The steering committee -- Leidlein, a middle school history teacher in Fairfield and vice president of the

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Newtown Middle School PTA
;
Mary Ann Jacob
, president of the middle school PTA; and Jen Scarangella, co-president of the Head O'Meadow PTA, held an information session Feb. 24 with representatives from the
Connecticut Consortium of Education Foundations
.
"The primary goal of an education foundation, as seen by the steering committee, is to encourage innovation in teachers and creativity in learners," Scarangella said.
"It is a fundraising vehicle meant to provide our children with rich experiences in all educational areas, despite the fact that necessary funds may fall outside of the normal school budget."
With no overhead costs, 100 percent of foundation money goes directly to education programs.
Leidlein said she wants the foundation to "be a bridge."
People can donate directly to a specific cause or grant. Leidlein thinks it's important that "people know where their money is going if they are making a donation to education.
"Especially in these economic times (when) things are being cut, we want to give educators and students the opportunity to be creative and go for things that aren't normally in the budget. (To) give people an opportunity to give directly to education programs, without having their taxes raised," Leidlein explained.
How far-reaching the foundation will become, and whether it will benefit just public schools or public and private schools, is still up in the air, as the group has yet to adopt a mission statement.
The Connecticut Consortium of Education Foundations is "very willing to work with any group ... starting an education foundation, which is wonderful because we all run into those barriers where we don't know. It's wonderful to have that resource," Leidlein said.
"(The foundation) is going to be available to the entire community. We want to give people the opportunity to become involved if they desire to."
The group is actively recruiting people interested in joining and is in the process of putting together a board, finalizing a mission statement and adopting bylaws.
Danbury's Education Foundation was founded in 2005 by Mayor
Mark Boughton
. He said the program was a little slow to start but has grown exponentially in the last three years. He estimates it gave about $15,000 in grants for the 2008-09 school year.
He said the money has been especially given to staff members, to give Danbury "better trained teachers (with) access to curriculum materials that the district couldn't afford."
Boughton's advice to the Newtown group: "They should get their pieces in place right now. It will prove a little (challenging) during this economic climate, but once the economy turns around they will be well positioned to raise some money and use it for a direct connection to children.
"That's what it's for," he said.